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| Lon Knight |
| by Ralph Berger |
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For many ethnic groups, coming to America was hardly a step into the American dream. Living in tenements on teeming streets, working at dirty, dangerous jobs for little pay, and facing ethnic hostility, these immigrants had a tough go of it. But they endured and became part of a pluralistic society that provided them with opportunities to better themselves. Some immigrants changed their names in order to avoid the discrimination they might face. This was the case of Alonzo P. Letti, whose name was changed to Alonzo P. Knight.
From the middle 1800s until well into the twentieth century foreigners, often of Southern European or Irish descent, were discriminated against because of their Catholic faith and for fear of their taking jobs away from so-called "Real Americans." There also existed the feeling among many that the influence of the Catholic Church would have a negative effect on the nation. The "Know Nothing Party" led the assault on these immigrants and caused them great pain and suffering.
Alonzo P. Letti was born in Philadelphia on June 16, 1853. His father, Armond, was a boilermaker who made metal tanks for converting water to steam. His mother, Maria, was a dressmaker. The family lived at 25 Brown Street near Front and Fairmount in the northern section of Philadelphia. When Alonzo was nine years old, his father died of typhoid fever. Several months later he was admitted to Girard College on April 7, 1863, barely making the admission by two months
After entering Girard his surname was changed to Knight. His scholarship average was just that at 6.64 out of 10. The name change did not work. His conduct was an appalling 2.64. At that time at Girard there existed a housemaster, an ex-military man who meted out harsh punishment to supposed miscreants. There was a punishment room for those who were considered out of line. It was a dark and foreboding place, and Lon Knight found himself in there for a long time. His punishment was cruel and unjustified. After being released from the room, Knight watched his behavior carefully and graduated from Girard without further incident. Thankfully, the treatment came to light, and when mothers complained, the military misfit was dismissed and the punishment room banished forever. Thus ended a dark time in Girard's history.
Lon Knight found an outlet playing baseball at Girard and soon developed sufficient ability to play in the professional leagues. His early encounter with the dark punishment room did not inhibit him; he mastered his temper and hostility and put them to use on the ball field with gutsy competitiveness.
After graduation from Girard in 1870, he became apprenticed to an accountant. After working hours he would practice his pitching skills. He also pitched for the Shibe Club, the amateur champions of the city of Philadelphia.
Signing with the Philadelphia Athletics of the National Association, he debuted with that team on September 4, 1875. For the season he started and completed 13 games with a 6-5 slate and a 2.27 ERA; his hitting was less than impressive, just six hits in 47 trips for a meager .128 average.
The next year saw Knight throwing the first pitch in National League history on Saturday, April 22, 1876, at the Jefferson Street Grounds, before a crowd of 3,000. The game was tied at the end of nine innings, 4-4, but Boston pushed across two runs to win, 6-5. The A's catcher made five errors, and Knight committed two errors to lead to the loss. The Athletics committed 13 errors in that sloppy opening game. All plays were firsts that day in the National League because all the other games were rained out. His career totals as a pitcher were 10-23, with all but the twenty-third loss achieved in 1876. Though his pitching wins were not impressive, he had a fairly decent ERA of 2.95.
Knight after 1876 was used as an outfielder (mostly right field) and infielder. He had modest numbers as a hitter with a career .245 batting average. Knight also did some managing at Binghamton, New York.
Lon left major league baseball after the 1876 season, to play in the outfield and serve as captain for the Lowell, Massachusetts, club in 1877 and 1878. He disappeared from the game in 1879, and showed up again in 1880 with Worcester of the National League, where he was captain of the team. Knight was with the Detroit Wolverines for the 1881 and 1882 seasons and then with Philadelphia of the American Association from 1883 through the 1885 season. He wound up his career with Providence of the National League in 1885.
On July 30, 1883, Knight had the best day of his life. Against Pittsburgh during his best season he went 5-for-5, hitting for the cycle in the process. Knight started off with a single, then stroked a double, then clouted a triple, and finally smashed a home run. He finished things off with another double. The Athletics won, 17-4. Knight must have liked July 30, for in 1884, he went 6-for-6, with five singles and a triple.
Knight spent part of his time in the majors as the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association in 1883 and 1884. His teams won a total of 127 and lost 78, coming in first place in 1883 with 66-32 record. After retiring as a player, Lon became an umpire in the American Association. Outspoken, he would ask pointed questions at American Association umpires' meetings. On April 6, 1887, at a meeting in Cleveland, the umpires discussed the rule about the pitcher's stance on the mound when he was about to deliver the ball. For two hours, Knight related, they went over the proper positioning of a pitcher. The rule stated that a pitcher must face the batter with his full body, not merely a turn of his face. Knight had had enough and interrupted the marathon: "Gentlemen you had this in the rule book last year and it was totally ignored and not enforced." A small brouhaha followed until it was fully agreed that the pitcher must fully face the hitter with his entire body. They also discussed the balk rule about pitchers deceiving the runner with a false motion. In those days not only did the runners advance on a balk but the batter was given first base. Knight also umpired in the National League during the 1889 season and in the Players League in 1890.
It is unclear when Knight retired from umpiring, but he was doing it through 1890. Umpiring in those days was hazardous and unrewarding. Knight had been fired from his umpiring position in the American Association because he felt the league did not back up its umpires. When a reporter ran him down, he told the scribe, "I have got all I want of it. I tell you umpiring in the American Association is something dreadful." Actually, Chris Van der Ahe, whom Knight sarcastically called "der Boss," had fired Knight. "He [Van der Ahe] wants you to give his team everything and then if you don't off goes your head. You can't do anything with his players. If you fine them he pays the fine so what good does it do." It is ironic that Knight, who was somewhat unruly as a child, became an umpire. But he always said that he tried to be fair and square with all the teams. It shows that Alonzo P. Knight had grown up as a man and took his responsibilities seriously
Nothing of Knight's life after baseball is noteworthy except that he lived out the rest of his life in Philadelphia. He died in Philadelphia on April 23, 1932, fifty-six years and one day after his historic game, of poisoning after a line to his gas heater broke.
Alonzo P. Knight, born Alonzo P. Letti, felt the slings and arrows of ethnic hatred. At first he acted in an understandably hostile manner. But he learned to control his emotions and graduated from Girard College trained as an accountant and found his way into major league baseball. Baseball scribes of the time called Knight a well- behaved gentleman with a straightforward, affable, and courteous demeanor. He was not a star by any means, but he showed leadership as a captain, manager, and umpire. This son of Italian immigrants, Alonzo P. Knight overcame ethnic bias, his fiery temper, and the punishment room to become a professional baseball player, a gentleman, and a credit to Girard College.
Sources
Alonzo Knight Files at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York.
www.baseball-reference.com
Girard College Archives, Philadelphia.
Light, Jonathan Fraser. The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1997.
Nemec, David. The Great Encyclopedia of 19th Century Major League Baseball. New York: Donald I. Fine Books, 1997.
Reichler, Joseph L. The Great All-Time Baseball Record Book: A Unique Sourcebook of Facts, Feats, and Figures. New York: Macmillan, 1981.
The New York Times, April 24, 1932.
The Sporting Life, April 6, 1887.
Thorn, John, Pete Palmer, and Michael Gershman. Total Baseball. 7th ed. Kingston, New York: Total Sports Publishing, 2001.
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